THE Singapore Food Agency (SFA) has awarded the tender for one of three land parcels at Lim Chu Kang to goat farm Hay Dairies for S$500,000.

The 10,000-square-metre land parcel is for general agriculture (food) farming, which means it may be used to farm food crops, seafood, quail eggs, cattle or goats for dairy milk, and/or frogs reared for food.

In a Wednesday announcement, SFA said Hay Dairies' proposal incorporated innovative farming systems, including automated feeding, solar panels and water recycling or rainwater harvesting systems. It added that Hay Dairies has a good track record in local production.

The other two parcels allocated for the same use have not been awarded as there were no proposals which met both the concept and price requirements. The tender for the three parcels was launched on June 19, 2019, and closed on Aug 14.

The parcels were tendered via the concept and price tender method, where the concept is assessed in the first stage. Those that passed are then evaluated for price. Concepts are assessed based on production capability, production track record, relevant experience and qualification, as well as innovation and sustainability.

Melvin Chow, senior director of SFA's food supply resilience division, said the agency will be tendering out sites for farming in the first half of 2020. Proposals that can achieve high production levels sustainably will have a higher chance of being awarded new land parcels.